Texas governor says no to more refugees from Syria

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday announced refusal to accept more Syrian refugees to settle in the Lone Star state in the wake of bloody terror attacks in Paris.

In an open letter addressed to U.S. President Barack Obama, Abbott said that the state will not take in any refugees from Syria in an response to heightened concerns that terrorists might use the refugees as cover to sneak across borders.

"Given the tragic attacks in Paris and the threats we have already seen, Texas cannot participate in any program that will result in Syrian refugees -- any one of whom could be connected to terrorism -- being resettled in Texas," he said.

Abbott joined governors of more than a dozen other states in calling for the Obama administration not to relocate Syrian refugees to their state.

The governors of Michigan, Alabama and Louisiana on Sunday made similar announcement of refusal following Friday's Paris carnage, which killed at least 132 people and wounded 352 others.

"Neither you nor any federal official can guarantee that Syrian refugees will not be part of any terrorist activity. As such, opening our door to them irresponsibly exposes our fellow Americans to unacceptable peril," Abbott said.

He said the threat posed to Texas by the Islamic State (IS) is real, saying that the IS claimed credit last May when two terrorist gunmen launched an attack in Garland, Texas.

"Less than two weeks later, the FBI arrested an Iraqi-born man in North Texas and charged him with lying to federal agents about traveling to Syria to fight with ISIS," he said, using another acronym of the radical group.

Abbott said that he has directed the state's Health and Human Services Commission not to participate in any resettlement program for Syrian refugees, as he urged Obama to withdraw his plan to allow 10,000 people from the war-torn country into the United States in the next year.

"I -- and millions of Americans -- implore you to halt your plans to accept more Syrians refugees in the United States," Abbott said.

Up to now, more than 120 Syrian refugees have resettled in Texas since October 2014.

However, federal immigration officials in Washington, legal experts and refugee-support organizations in Texas questioned whether Abbott can enforce his directive.

Federal officials could simply resettle Syrian refugees in Texas through local social-services agencies, and there will be little the state could do to stop it. Enditem